Britain's Mess of Road Potholes Could Cover the Isle of Wight

Stats on the state of our roads have concluded that we have around 295 square miles of potholes in the UK, enough, if combined through some sort of continental drift disaster, to fill an area twice the size of the Isle of Wight.

The pothole data has been compiled by breakdown company Britannia Rescue, which acquired it through filing a series of Freedom of Information requests with councils. It claims local councils paid out around £2.5m in compensation to drivers over the past financial year, as poorly-maintained roads were held responsible for damaging vehicles in 32,600 separate compo claims.

Britannia suggests the average compensation payout for broken wheel rims, bent suspension and punctured tyres comes to £140 per driver, with the cost to the council being £50 to patch up the average road hole. [Metro]